Field of the Invention
Embodiments of the present invention generally relate to video coding using intra block copy cost estimation.
Description of the Related Art
The Joint Collaborative Team on Video Coding (JCT-VC) of ITU-T WP3/16 and ISO/IEC JTC 1/SC 29/WG 11 has recently released the first version of the next-generation video coding standard referred to as High Efficiency Video Coding (HEVC). Similar to previous video coding standards such as H.264/AVC, HEVC is based on a hybrid coding scheme using block-based prediction and transform coding. First, the input signal is split into rectangular blocks that are predicted from the previously decoded data by either motion compensated (inter) prediction or intra prediction. The resulting prediction error is coded by applying block transforms based on an integer transform, which is followed by quantization and coding of the transform coefficients.
HEVC Version 1 primarily focuses on 8-bit/10-bit YUV 4:2:0 video and provides 50% higher coding efficiency than its predecessor AVC/H.264. Standardization efforts, referred to as HEVC Range extensions (HEVC RExt), are currently underway in the JCT-VC to extend HEVC to support bit depths larger than 10 bits and color sampling of 4:2:2 and 4:4:4. Among the tools under consideration for HEVC RExt (or later versions) are tools for improving coding efficiency of screen content video. The work on screen content coding is motivated by the increasing popularity of applications such as wireless displays, remote desktop, remote gaming, distance education, cloud computing, automotive infotainment, etc. Video in such applications often has mixed content in a single picture that includes some combination of natural video, text, and graphics.